The Beauty Pageant
by enchanteuse
Summary: It started as an ordinary day in the Westchester Beauty Pageant. Then, disaster struck; a contestant murdered. FBI agent Massie Block must go undercover to discover secrets, hidden jealousy, and a killer. ON HIATUS UNTIL WHO KNOWS WHEN
1. Prologue: i

The Beauty Pageant

::(x)::

Prologue

Claire Lyons posed on stage as countless girls nervously stood beside her. It was the day that twenty-five lucky girls would be chosen to compete for the Miss Westchester crown.

After answering numerous questions by the host, Claire exited the stage, restlessness practically radiating off of her.

She was immediately greeted by her best friend Kristen Gregory. "Hey girl!"

"Hey, Kris. I'm super worried that I won't make it in the pageant. Gawd knows what will happen."

Kristen raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "Is my hair naturally dirty blonde? Of course you'll make it in! We're both total shoo-ins."

Claire sighed with relief. Kristen always knew how to make her feel better. A few feet away, she saw a backstage manager post a paper on the bulletin board. Hundreds of girls rushed to the board, and the pair instantly knew that the judges had made their decision.

"Come on!" she shouted over the noise.

She pulled Kristen through the growing crowd and had to duck and crawl to even get a little glimpse of the results. At one point, she had to let go of her friend and use all her strength to push through. As she reached the board, she noticed a ton of girls crying; and suddenly, she was just as anxious as she was a few hours ago.

With her head up, she looked at the paper and screamed. At once, Claire ran through the other girls and reached Kristen.

"We…got…in!" she breathlessly said.

They both broke out into huge smiles and wrapped themselves in a tight hug.

"Ehmagawd," Kristen yelled, "I can't believe that I could actually become _the_ Miss Westchester!"

A fellow finalist, Olivia Ryan, turned around and glared at Kristen. "Dial it down! I'm trying to call someone, but I can't hear anything with your elephant noises filling my ear drums!"

Kristen turned away in absolute disgust, not even bothering to make a comeback. "Can you believe the way that Duh-livia Ryan was talking to me? I swear, she should just fall down a well or something!"

Claire gasped. "How can you say something like that? It was not needed!"

"Why? Do you like her or something?" Kristen sneered, causing girls around them to snicker.

"Gawd, no. It's just…she's been through a lot, okay? And you _were_ kind of loud."

Claire looked down at her feet, remembering when she and Olivia were best friends.

Kristen flipped her dirty blonde locks and sasid, "She's still one of the dumbest and ugliest _things_ I have ever met."

Suddenly, the sound of sobbing filled part of backstage, and Claire saw Olivia push through a horde of bewildered girls and run off into the shadows.

She glared at her best friend. "Now look what you did!"

"It's not my fault she can't handle an insult. BTDubbs, she totally had it coming after she called me an elephant."

"I'm going to go after her," Claire said, starting to turn around.

She wasa stopped by Kristen, who held onto her wrist and looked dirctly into her cornflower blue eyes. "Don't even _think_ about doing that. I'm tired of her crap, and I'm sure you do, too. Just forget about this. Okay?"

Claire was silent. She didn't know Kristen could be so _mean_.

"Okay?" Kristen said more forcefully.

"Okay," Claire whimpered.

"Good. I'm going to handle that problem. Don't worry about it. Now, let's go get Leesh and Dyl. We so need mani-pedis right now," Kristen answered, stalking off immediately.

Claire sighed and followed her, as if she had no choice.

::(x)::

After hearing Kristen Gregory obnoxiously insulting her, Olivia ran to a random dressing room and cried her heart out. What she didn't realize was that she was being watched. A hooded figure wearing all black walked down the hall and opened the door to the occupied room.

Without turning around, Olivia said, "I'm not in the mood. Just leave me alone."

"Sorry, hun. I can't do that."

Olivia twisted around with a mad look, which instantly changed to fear and surprise. "Wh-who are you?"

The figure smiled and answered, "I'm your worst nightmare."

"Why the hell are you wearing my face?!"

"I'm just doing something that I like to call 'revenge.'"

"What?" Olivia screeched. "Please don't hurt me! I'll do anything! Just tell me what to do!"

The person laughed evilly. "I'm not going to hurt you, sweetie. I promise."

And with that, she wrapped her leather-covered hands over her golden pistol, and fired.

_to be continued…_

::(x)::

**So? How was that? This is my first story that I'm writing, so bear with me. I actually got the "wearing my face" idea from Pretty Little Liars, which is one of THE best shows ever! BTW, would anyone be willing to beta-read this story for me? Thanks for reading and please review!**

**~Cat**


	2. ii

The Beauty Pageant  
**ii.**

::(x)::

"Adolescent beauty queen, Olivia Ryan, was found dead in the Westchester Opera House, where auditions to become Miss Westchester were held. Witnesses reported to have seen a hooded figure walking down the hallway towards the–" Massie Block, teenage FBI agent, slammed down the newspaper and her cappuccino, unable to read more. It was bad enough that adults were murdered, now beauty pageant contestants? Her cell phone rang. It was her boss.

"Where are you?" he barked.

Massie cringed. "Sorry, sir. I'm in the coffee shop."

"Well, we've got a murder on our hands that we want you to go undercover for."

Her mouth dropped open. There was rarely ever a chance that an inexperienced agent would go out on the field. It was usually veterans. "Thank you so much, Mr. Elliot! You won't regret this!"

"I sure hope not," he grunted. "Now, get your butt back to home base!"

"Yes, sir!"

::(x)::

Massie sat in the conference room, which was only used for important meetings and undercover business. "I'm sure you've seen the newspaper," Elliot said, tossing her a file. "You'll be going undercover in Westchester's beauty pageant as a finalist."

"What?!" Massie screeched. "I'm not going to do that!"

"Yes, you will."

"No, I won't! You can't tell me what to do!" Massie shouted, not realizing her fatal mistake.

Elliot's eyes turned dark. "You will be in Storage Compartment Number 18 at exactly 600 hours. Do not yell at me again or you will be put under suspension for the rest of the year." He stood up. "And that is an order." With that, Elliot left the room, leaving Massie speechless and angry.

::(x)::

Massie checked her watch. It was 6:05 am. _Where are they?_ she thought. The door to the storage compartment was locked. She had been waiting outside in the cold for five minutes. Finally, two minutes later, the door was lifted up by a girl with sleek black hair, emerald green eyes, and designer clothing. Massie was immediately given the once-over.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

Massie raised an eyebrow. "I'm Massie Block."

"Oh. Then come with me." She gestured inside with her manicured hands, then turned around and led the way to another door. Massie was shocked as the girl opened the door. It was teenage girl heaven. There was a make-shift spa and closet, which contained countless designer clothes.

The girl walked off towards the spa, but stopped when Massie called to her. "I never caught your name."

Without turning around, she said, "Lucy. My name is Lucy," then continued walking to her destination.

A stylish man came up to her and offered his hand. "You must be Massie. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Pablo, the one in charge of everything that happens here. And please excuse Miss Henderson. She's a bit cold to people she does not know."

Massie shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. And it's okay, I've learned to channel my emotions. What's all this stuff for?"

"You mean, you don't know?" he said, clearly surprised. "We're giving you a makeover to make you look like a beauty queen."

Her jaw dropped. "Are you serious? But I look fine just the way I am!"

Pablo inspected her. "I suppose you do look _fine_, but we need to make you look _great_, _stunning_, and_beautiful_. It's the only way to make the other girls accept you."

"Ugh, fine. Where do we start first?"

::(x)::

After many hours of hair styling, clothes trying, and pampering, Massie looked like a whole new person. Gone was her mousy brown hair, dull amber eyes, pale complexion, and Plain Jane clothes. It was replaced with glossy brunette waves with one purple streak, glowing amber eyes, tan skin, and an amazing outfit that consisted of a white silk collared shirt tucked into a black textured A-line skirt, shiny black pumps, a bright purple statement necklace, and gold bangles.

"Oh my god," breathed Pablo. "You look _magnifique_! Now it's time to give you your spy gear. Come now." Pablo walked to the table that Lucy was standing at. A trendy brown Gucci tote bag and girly essentials were spread out on the table.

Lucy held up a tube of lipstick. "This is not your average lipstick. It serves as a taser when you press this." She touched a hidden silver button on the side of the tube. "And it has a tracking device on the bottom, which you can track using this." She held up a tablet. "Simply press the tube up and the bug will drop into your palm like so." She showed Massie how to use it. "Any questions?"

Massie shook her head. She was too in awe of this clever gadget.

"Okay, moving on." Lucy held up a pair of sunglasses. "This is a pair of X-Ray glasses. It allows you to see through clothing and objects, no matter what the material is. In addition, it also has a tiny camera and microphone that is linked to our computers and a way to communicate with your tech person, which happens to be me." She showed off a lot of ordinary-looking things that actually weren't ordinary – it was just cleverly disguised spy gear – then it was time for Massie to catch her plane to Westchester.

"But I didn't pack any luggage!" she complained in the airport.

Pablo patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, we packed everything you need. You'll be fine. Lucy will be with you, posing as your best friend."

Massie sighed. She hoped everything would go as planned.

::(x)::

As Massie looked out the window at the clear blue sky and relaxed into her first-class seat, she couldn't help but feel nervous. Her boss had given her one piece of advice: Don't trust anyone. Nothing is ever what it seems.

She also felt smug. With her intense awareness and training and Lucy's advanced knowledge, she was sure that she would find the killer and solve the crime. Wouldn't she? She asked herself these questions as the plane lifted off into the sky.

_Bye-bye Washington, hello Westchester!_

::(x)::

**So, the first official chapter! Lol the lipstick taser is from Despicable Me 2, which is a movie that everyone should watch. The tracking device is my idea, though. The next chapter is when Massie will be meeting the other girls and starting the investigation. 5 or more reviews for an update? Beta-read by the _AMAZING_****sparkle filled hearts!**

**~Cat **


	3. iii

**Ohmygosh! Thank you for the 13 reviews I got! Shout out to my beta-reader sparkle filled hearts, and to the amazing people who actually reviewed my story: dead end justice, hawtjuicyaddict, ailes du neige, Miss Minion, RedQueenOfPassion, xoxo starry-eyed, parachute hearts, FanFicFanticGurl, dancing when the rain falls, and Glittering Moonlight.**

**And yes, Natalie, this is a little similar to Miss Congeniality. But the contestants and outcome itself will be way different.**

The Beauty Pageant

**iii.**

::(x)::

There was a slight chill in the air. Claire Lyons shivered, starting to regret leaving her Marc Jacobs pea coat in her hotel room. The producer of the Westchester Beauty Pageant told every contestant to meet outside of Starbucks so they could "bond." So far, everyone was there, except for the new girl who would take Olivia Ryan's place. Kristen told her that her name was Macy Black.

Claire blamed herself for her ex-friend's death. _If only Kristen had not stopped me, I could've saved Olivia, _she thought bitterly.

Beside her, Alicia Rivera sighed dramatically. "Where's the new girl? We've been waiting for ten minutes already!"

"Sorry," said a girl walking towards them. "I was…unpacking."

"Well –" Alicia started, but was cut off by Claire.

"Its fine, we can all relate to this situation. Everyone has a _lot_ of clothes."

The girl smiled and stuck out a hand. "I'm Massie Block."

"I'm Claire Lyons. It's so nice to meet you," she said, taking her hand and shaking it.

Massie turned to Alicia, ready for a handshake, but was immediately dismissed with an upturned nose. "I'm Alicia Rivera."

She turned to the redhead who looked bored. "I'm Dylan Marvil. Sorry, I don't take autographs."

"Wasn't going to ask," Massie said under her breath. Claire giggled and Massie shot her a smile.

Next was Kristen, who sniffed obnoxiously and delicately shook her hand as if it was infested with germs. "Kristen Gregory, future Miss Westchester."

_Wow_, Massie thought, _She seems like the type of person who would do anything to win. Mental note: Mark Kristen Gregory as suspect_. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all."

Claire smiled and said, "Now let's go to the club! Wooohoooo!"

::(x)::

Massie stumbled back to the Westchester Crown Hotel, with Claire Lyons in toll. They had been clubbing for four hours straight and her newfound friend was passed out. It was a good thing they were roommates.

After somehow managing to get Claire into the elevator and down a hallway, Massie unlocked their room, and used all of her strength to lift her up and toss her on the queen-sized bed. She instantly collapsed on the other bed and fell asleep.

::(x)::

Massie woke up with the sun shining right in her face. She checked the time and cursed herself. It was 20 minutes to 7:00 am, which was when they had to be at the opera house.

"CLAIRE!" she yelled. She didn't get up from her face down position. Massie prodded her side and yelled in her ear again. She _still _wasn't awake.

_Time to call out the big guns_, Massie thought. She pushed Claire off the bed and onto the floor, along with the covers and pillows. She didn't move at all. _God, this girl is a really deep sleeper_. Massie went to the bathroom and filled a bucket with water. Then, she went back to Claire and dumped it on her.

She immediately woke. "What the hell?!"

"Oh, don't you give me that look. We have to leave _now_ in order to get to the opera house!"

"Crap," Claire yelled, finally getting up.

::(x)::

Within 5 minutes, the girls arrived at the opera house, looking casual-chic. Well, actually, they just kept their night dresses on and put a jacket over it.

"Girls, girls," said the producer, Lucinda Hill. "You need to get into your dressing rooms and change for the first segment: the Runway."

They rushed off and passed a door that said "DO NOT ENTER. CRIME SCENE." Massie looked at it interestingly. Claire followed her eyes and said, "You don't want to go there. It's the place where Olivia Ryan was shot…"

"Oh, okay. I'm not going in there," Massie lied. _I'll come back to it later._

::(x)::

_3 hours and 1 can of hairspray later…_

Massie finally had a break from walking up and down the runway. True to her word, she stood outside near the crime scene and waited until no one was in the hallway to slip inside and personally investigate.

Inside, there was a tab marked one, where there was blood on a vanity chair, and a tab marked two, where there was footprints in the carpet. Putting on some gloves and using a compact mirror magnifying glass, Massie got right to work. She looked on the ground for any loose hair or material that might have come off of the killer. In the hinge of the doorway on the floor, she found a bullet case which must have been from the bullet that murdered Olivia. She picked it up and put it in a little plastic baggie. She'd have to analyze it in the hotel room later.

Suddenly, Massie heard footsteps outside, so she hid in the closet, leaving the door open a little bit so she could see who would be coming inside. The door creaked open a little bit and her breathing became hitched. _Would it be the killer?_ she thought to herself. Finally, the door opened and closed and in walked **Olivia Ryan**. The person looked around for something but couldn't find it, so she left and ran down the hall.

Massie carefully opened the door and checked the ground for the person's footprints. Sure enough, it was the same size as the killer's. On the floor, she found a small strand of blonde hair. She'd need to send this to the lab to get it identified. Sighing, Massie was glad she was being led on the right track. But why did the killer come back to the crime scene? What did she leave behind? She'd have to investigate even further and put herself in more danger to figure out these questions.

::(x)::

At dinner, something clicked in Massie's mind. The security camera! "Yes!" she shouted out loud. The other contestants looked up from their food and turned to give her quizzical looks. "Uhhhh…yes! I got the new Jimmy Choo shoes!"

Everyone turned back to what they were doing before they were interrupted except for Claire and Kristen, who was glaring at her. "Are you okay?" Claire asked.

"I'm fine," she answered. "Excuse me, I'm tired and I want to go to sleep."

"You're leaving? But we were going to go out on the yacht!"

"Sorry, I'm not feeling well. I'll be better tomorrow."

"Okay, get well soon!"

Massie smiled and got up, ignoring the unhappy stare from Lucinda. As soon as she was out of the dining hall in the hotel, she rushed outside and called a cab. "To the opera house, please!" she told the driver.

When she arrived, she hopped out of the car and ran to the door and to the security guard. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked her, gun at the ready.

She took out her badge and said, "Massie Block, FBI, and Division 3. I need to see your security tape for the time Olivia Ryan was murdered."

"Sure thing, Miss Block." The security guard turned around with wide eyes and unlocked the room. He sat in the chair and replayed the tape.

"_I'm not going to hurt you, sweetie. I promise."_

_The killer shot Olivia Ryan and quickly turned around and ran out into the hallway._

"Playback to where the murderer turned around. Try to get the person's face." The guard played back and sure enough, they could see the face.

They both gasped. It looked exactly like Olivia. There was no mask. It was all natural looking.

::(x)::

**So how was it? I revealed some clues as to who the killer is. Tell me who you think it is in the reviews. Remember what Elliot said in Chapter 2: Nothing is ever what it seems. R&R please!**

**~Cat**


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